Conventionally, air-conditioning control has been performed using Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) as an index of comfort felt by individuals in living spaces such as office buildings.
This PMV was proposed by a Fanger, where comfort was expressed on a seven-point scale (+3: Extremely Hot, +2: Hot, +1: Warm, 0: Neutral, −1: Cool, −2: Cold, −3: Extremely Cold) through the comfort equation which he published, and thus it is comfortable when the PMV is 0.
Additionally, this PMV is calculated combining six elements within the living space (temperature, relative humidity, average radiant heat, airspeed, amount of human activity, and amount of clothing), thus enabling air-conditioning control to be performed more closely matching human bodily sensation.
For example, in the air-conditioning controlling systems disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication H5-126380 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication 2001-82782, the PMV is calculated from the individual measured values for the temperature within the room, the humidity within the room, the average radiant heat, and the airspeed, and the individual setting values for the amount of human activity and the amount of clothing, and the air-conditioning control is performed so that the PMV will be within a comfortable range (−0.5 through +0.5).
In the living space, there is a trade-off relationship between energy conservation and comfort, and, in consideration of global environmental issues, it is desirable to conserve energy as far as is possible (hereinafter termed “energy conservation”). In this case, one must consider sacrificing some degree of comfort; however, if not managed properly the result will be unnecessary sacrifice of comfort. Consequently, when correcting air-conditioning controlling setting values, when renovating air-conditioning equipment, and the like, it is necessary to evaluate not only the energy conservation but comfort as well, to evaluate the need for corrections and renovations, and the scope of renovations, and the like.
In buildings, often the building owners are unable to evaluate easily comfort and energy conservation, so evaluations are performed by the professionals who perform the renovations. Additionally, the renovations themselves require substantial time and expense. Consequently, in order to obtain an agreement between the building owners and the professional contractors regarding the performance of renovations it is desirable to have an objective index for the decision.
Given this, the present applicant contemplates performing an evaluation of comfort efficacy of a living space using the PMV described above. For example, an instantaneous value for a comfort index P that indicates the comfort of a living space can be obtained through substituting the instantaneous value for the PMV into the equation below. This comfort index P has a value that is larger when the comfort is high and smaller when the comfort is low:P=1.0−|PMV|/3 (wherein 0≦|PMV|≦3)  (1)
Given this, the comfort index P is integrated within a specific time period that is established as an evaluation interval, and the integral value for the comfort index P becomes the comfort efficacy index TP (where TP=ΣP). This comfort efficacy index TP is an important index when making decisions when evaluating the need for correcting air-conditioning controlling setting values, renovating air-conditioning equipment, and the like. In this case, it can be evaluated that there is high comfort in the living space if the comfort efficacy index TP is high.
However, in the method described above, currently contemplated by the applicant, no consideration is given in the comfort efficacy index TP to the state of occupancy of the resident, and thus it cannot be said that the comfort of the occupant of the room in the living space is reflected accurately in the comfort efficacy index TP, and thus there is the risk that an error may be made in the decision when deciding whether or not to correct the air-conditioning controlling setting value or renovate the air-conditioning equipment based on this comfort efficacy index TP.
Note that while, in the above, the explanation was for a case wherein an evaluation of the comfort efficacy of a living space was performed, the same problem occurs in the case of evaluating the efficacy of energy conservation in a living space through, for example, integrating the amount of energy consumed.
The present invention was created in order to solve this type of problem, and the object thereof is to provide a method and device for added value efficacy index evaluation in a living space, capable of evaluating accurately the efficacy of added value, such as comfort or energy conservation, in a living space, through taking into consideration the state of occupancy of the occupants.